No Matter What
by KiraKatastrophe
Summary: Kiamara just wanted to live a normal life, below the radar. Unfortunately, a certain clown won't allow that. JokerXOC
1. Introduction

Gotham City, 1990

"Ouch" Kiamara winced and quickly drew her hand up to rub her head where the pain was now swelling. Tears immediately sprang up in her eyes although she refused to let them fall. If there was one thing she learned when she moved to this country, and ESPECIALLY this city, it was to never let them see you cry, or they would do everything in their power to make sure it happened over, and over, and over again. She simply clung her dolly tighter to her and turned to glare at her assailent. It was that boy from next door, she didn't know his name, but she knew that he was the the son of that couple that was always screaming and yelling at each other late at night. Her daddy said that they were just talking, but she knew better.

Kiamara got to her feet and pushed his shoulder as hard as she could. He stumbled back a few steps and she smiled rather proud of herself, but she quickly replaced it with another glare. "Why'd you pull my hair?" She demanded, trying not to smile again when the boy rubbed his shoulder a little. "I dunno..." He muttered and looked at the ground. "Why did you push me?" He asked looking up at her equally upset. "Because you pulled my hair! I should tell my mommy!" She threw her doll to the ground and turned to run home, but he grabbed her hand. The way he held it was why she turned around, he wasn't rough with her, but it was just enough to stop her, like he was holding it.  
>She blushed when she thought of that and she looked up at him, noticing the tears brimming in his own eyes. "Please don't tell. Then my dad will get mad at my mom again." She tilted her head confused. "Why would he do that?" The boy shrugged. "He's always saying it's her fault that I'm...out of patrol." Kiamara giggled at the phrase he had mis-used. "You mean out of control." She had also heard her mother use it when she was talking about some of the other children she baby-sat. He smiled and nodded. "Yes, thats what he says." Kiamara smiled back at him. "Alright I won't tell. IF you play with me." He looked at her confused. "You want ME to play with YOU? No one ever wants me to play with them." Kiamara shrugged and pulled him towards her backyard. "No one ever wants to play with me either." He looked at her confused again, she was really starting to get used to it. "Why wouldn't they want to play with you?"<p>

"Well why don't they want to play with you?" She countered.

"Cause thier parents tell them not to...I guess since mines are always arguing."

"Well that's not fair. They don't play with me because I talk funny."

"That's not fair neether, I like the way you talk."

She simply smiled and led him to the top of the jungle-jim that her dad set up for her.

"Let's play house. I'll be the mommy and you can be the daddy."

He nodded and pushed her down, then yelled something about her not cleaning. She stood up and brushed the back of her pants off then stomped her foot and yelled for him to stop.

"That's not how you do it!"

He stopped and sctratched his head. "That's how my parents do it."

She folded her arms and shook her head.

"No, a mommy and daddy are supposed to love each other, and they talk about stuffs. They don't hit and scream." She smiled at him, then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"See, isn't that better?" He nodded and lifted his hand to touch his cheek.

"My mom and dad never do that."

She sighed. "Mines used to, when we lived in England. They don't really talk now. Hey what's your name?"

He thought for a second. "Can we have fake names? Since it's make-believe."

She nodded.

"I want mines to be Jack."

She smiled. "Then I want mines to be Anna."

"Now Jack, let's go in the kitchen and I'll make you dinner."

He smiled and followed her to another side of the jungle jim.

"Can we be married forever Anna? You promise?"

She turned to him and saw the earnest look on his face.

"O.k. Jack, and we'll always be nice to each other. No matter what."

He nodded, his little eyebrows set firm with the decision. "No matter what..."

_Me: Okay so I hope you guys enjoy this story, I am not very cofident in my writing-  
>Joker: And...why pretell is that?<br>Me: I dunno, I've never been the best, but it's something I like to do.  
>Joker: Well if you enjoy it, who cares what the world thinks? People always assume things about me...like these scars, have I ever told you how I got them?<br>Me: NO THANK YOU ._.  
>As I was saying, I hope you guys enjoy this tale. ^-^ Please feel free to let me know what you think about it okay? Good and bad critizism are welcomed. I'll probably need to spell check this then re-post it, so grammar nazi's are welcomes as well. Good night all.<em>


	2. Chapter 1

**Present Day, Gotham City**

Kiamara trudged down the stairs of her apartment, rolling her eyes at the screaming couple next door. It reminded her of when she was a kid, promises made and silly games. Those were better times.  
>"EH! Kimana! Your not trying to sneak off without paying rent huh?"<br>"It's Kiamara, and no! When I got it you'll get it Danny. Geez, your riding me like I'm tryin to get over on you like one of these other idiots. You know I'm good for it."  
>"Yeah, yeah. Damn tenants..." He muttered and walked back into his room.<br>She hurried down the stairs uninterrupted, and headed to the strip club across the street.  
>"Hey Joey." She smiled at the bouncer and patted him on the shoulder.<br>"Hey Kia, were going to be pretty crowded tonight princess. Some big Mafia guy is stopping in tonight. Uh..I think his name Maloney or something like th-"  
>"Maroni..." She sighed and brushed her hair away from her face wondering how this would be handled.<br>"What you know the guy? Is he a problem? cause I can handle 'em if you want."  
>She shook her head. Sal Maroni was a painbut a very powerful mob leader so the LAST thing she would want is Joe getting whacked in the process of trying to protect her. He was a nice guy and like a brother to her, she couldn't repay him like that.<br>Maroni was for some strange reason interested in her. He said that he could see she was classier than the other dancers and he promised her all sorts of money and things, but she knew better. The last girl he had "Pretty Womaned" out of this club turned up dead a month or so back. Rumor had it, she found out he was sleeping around and threatened to leave him. Apparently no one left Sal Maroni.  
>"Alright..." Joey eyed her with a look that said he knew there was something she wasn't telling him, but he respected her privacy enough to let it be. "Oh and go right to the office, Jeff wants to talk to you."<br>She nodded and went into the club, keeping her eyes to the ground, and avoiding any contact with the men around her. When she got to the back she stopped by the dressing room, and looked at Lisa expectantly. She was one of the other dancers and she was in pretty tight with the boss so whatever was up she would know about it.  
>Lisa shrugged, and gestured towards the office. If she didn't know what was going on then it had to be bad.<br>She knocked on the door and walked in then sat down at the chair in front of him.  
>"You wanted to talk to me."<br>"Kiki you told me you were how old?"  
>"Twenty two."<br>He folded his hands and hunched over the desk.  
>"And how old are you really?"<br>"Twenty-two."  
>Jeff sighed and tapped his finger on the desk. "No Kiki, you see I do a background check on all of my girls. I have to, I run one of the most popular and well known strip clubs in Gotham City. I can't have some underage, IVY League graduate dancing in my club. If the media were to find out about this I would get put out of business! They would make you out to be the victim and my club would be SHUT DOWN..."<br>He placed his hands over his face, then moved to massage his temples for a second while Kiamara sat quietly.  
>"I should've known. I should've known why you didn't want to dance like the rest of the girls. An exotic dancer you said you wanted to be, NOT a stripper...I just thought you were being stuck up, but you- Your probably still a virgin!"<br>She sat up offended. "That's none of your business!"  
>He sat forward. "But this IS, THIS-" He sighed again and ran his hands through his hair. "Look. Your fired alright?"<br>"COME ON Jeff that's not fair! Your talkin like I'm 18 or something! I'm twenty! Come on!" she lowered her voice and look him in the eyes pleadingly. "How am I gonna pay my rent Jeff?"  
>He shrugged and straightened out his tie. "I don't know Kiki...you can dance tonight and that's it. Whatever you earn you can take, but your done here. Hey, maybe you should take up Sal's offer he seems-"<br>"No, I'll find something else. He's the last person I'd turn to."  
>"Fine, but at least cut out the New York accent doll I know where your really from."<p>

_End Note: Hope you guys are enjoying it so far. If not let me know and throw in your suggestions as well alright?_

_Joker: When am I going to be in this tale? I thought it was about me after all..._

_Me: Your coming in soon I have to give them the background you know, let them get attatched to the characters. _

_Joker: You're the planning type aren't you? I never plan doll I just do._

_Me: Well unfortunately I don't have a bunch of fan girls waiting for my next move. I have to give them the build-up_

_Joker: These fan girls...do you happen to have their names and home addresses?_

_Me: Tiiiime to go :D_


	3. Chapter 2

Kiamara danced that night better than she had ever danced in all the days that she worked at this crummy place. Even though she knew that Maroni was eyeing her, and all of the other men in there obviously upset, it didn't stop her, she had rent to make. Kiamara headed to the back to say goodbye to the rest of the girls and get dressed, as well as organize all of her money when her turn was through. She had a long month of unemployment ahead of her, and the last thing she needed was to be unorganized in the financial department. After Kiamara had her coat back on and everything was in order she headed out of the club for the last time.  
>"G' night Joey." She called back to the trusty bouncer, but decided against hugging or telling him what was going on. She didn't want to get too attached, it was probably best for her to make the clean cut while she could.<br>"Good night Princess."

"Hey Kiamara wait..." She heard a voice say, but she didn't turn back. "I'm off duty sorry..."  
>"You listen when Mr. Maroni is talking to you." Another voice said.<br>She winced when she felt someone grab her arm and whip her around to face them.  
>"Hey! Let her go." She heard Joey object before another one of Maroni's flunkies held him back.<br>She held her head high and unafraid as Maroni approached her.  
>"Is there something I can help you with?"<br>He grinned although it was in no way genuine and in **every** way screamed his superiority.  
>"Well Kia...I wanted to give you another offer. My <strong>last<strong> offer. You can be with me, or I'll make it so no one ever sees your pretty face again." He was obviously drunk, but that didn't lessen the threat in anyway.  
>She turned her face away when he ran his thumb across her cheek.<br>"So what If I turn you down your going to have me killed like you did that girl Marcy?"  
>His smiled quickly diminished and he back-handed her without warning. She covered her cheek, and tried to ignore the heat and sudden stinging that blossomed in it's place.<br>She didn't see Joey's look of worry, she didn't see him rush forward to tackle Maroni, and she didn't see him go down when flunkey number one shot a bullet his way.  
>What she did see was his large figure gasping for air on the ground as it blurred into merely a dark spot when the tears filled her eyes.<br>"JOEY!" She screamed and tried to run over to him. "JOEY! Joey get up! Come on Joe-..." She sobbed but Maroni held her back.  
>"Eh come on you know Renardo's on probation!" He chuckled pretending to berate the man who shot her last and only friend and held Kiamara tight to him, so close she had to smell the revolting alcohol on his breath.<br>"You monster! You asshole! What'd he ever do to you huh?" She fought against him kicking and screaming until finally she kicked him in the right place.  
>He crouched over coughing and covered his nads as he groaned, while the other guys rushed forward to grab her.<br>"Shit!" She heard him groan, and she smiled in satisfaction.  
>"Get rid of her!" Maroni half yelled and half coughed out. "I don't take this from any whore!"<br>Her heart skipped a beat as the wind was knocked out of her and she doubled forward to the ground. One of those bastards had punched her in the stomach, _so much for not hitting a girl..._  
>She coughed and tried to crawl towards a wall or something so she could pull herself up, but before she could go one more inch, a swift kick connected with her ribs. She fell down once more, wheezing and gasping for air.<br>It almost burned to breathe, she gasped a few more times and finally everything went fuzzy.  
>Sweet darkness and sleep welcomed her. She glady gave in as her thoughts and everything around her went blank.<p>

Sal rose to his feet and started over to Kiamara's unconscious yet shapely figure.  
>"What now boss? She's already out cold." Anthony asked and tucked his gun away smirking.<br>"Come on Ant that's sick..." Sal looked at him with disgust. "I want her to be awake when I take what I want. Pick her up."  
>The guys laughed and leaned down to lift her body until they heard a voice.<br>"Ah, ah, ah..." Everyone, living and conscious atleast, looked over to where the voice was coming from. "I wouldn't do that if I were...you." The figure stepped out into the street, then let out a skin crawling cackle.  
>"Oh not <em>this<em> joke again." Maroni started. "Can't you see I'm busy clown."  
>"Oh ho ho I believe you meant Jok<strong>er<strong>."  
>"Yeah boss his names The Jo-"<br>"SHUT UP ANTHONY! Now pick her up so we can get out of here." They leaned down once more, but stopped when they heard the distinct click of the safety being removed from a gun, the Joker had the gun aimed one of the men so Maroni took out his own, as well as the other flunkey.  
>"There's one a you and three of us." Maroni smiled in triumph until he heard another two...no three distinct clicks.<br>He was surrounded by a small group of men in clown masks."  
>"Now...why do you want her so badly?"<br>"You're already hoarding my money as well as half of the other people in Gotham. You want to take this too?"  
>The Joker simply aimed the gun to show he meant business. "You didn't answer my question Maroni."<br>Maroni sighed. "Fine, you want her TAKE HER...I never wanted her anyway."  
>The Joker fired his gun and one of Maroni's men fell to the ground. "You never answered my question." Was his only statement offered. "Although, it has been a while since I had a hostage."<br>Maroni backed off with his hands in the air, while the Joker tossed his gun to the side, then went forward and picked Kiamara up into his arms bridal style.  
>"I'm going...you boys have fun with Maroni." The Joker smirked hearing the demented laughter of his insane henchmen, when he turned his back to them and headed towards the van. The girl stirred in his arms, and he looked her over annoyed. He much preferred his victims to be awake so he would have to wait quite a while for this one to awaken. They had beaten her fairly bad before he had stepped in, at least for her size, and from her prissy manner he could bet that she had never taken a real hit before in her life.<br>She squirmed again in his arms, and he stopped to look down at her although it was dark so he couldn't really see her features.  
>"What, put me down..." She mummered and pushed against him effortlessly in her stupor. "What are you doing?"<br>He could see she was still unconscious. Her voice was soft, and the New York drawl he had heard moments earlier was gone. It sounded like she had some sort of accent...British maybe.  
>"I'm playing a game." He replied to her amused.<br>"What kind of game?" She slurred out as if she were drunk.  
>He stayed quiet for a second while he opened the door to the van and sat her in the front seat. "I dunno...house..." He muttered, then closed her door.<br>"Okay Jack..." She sighed out.  
>He stopped for a moment and stared at her. The name had jolted something in his memory...something distant. He leaned in her window.<br>"What did you say?" Nothing, no response.  
>He tapped her cheek lightly trying to awaken her once more. "What did you just say?" He asked again firmly once she sat up with her eyes opened and confused, and a sleep glossed look over them.<br>"What?..." She sighed before she drifted off again, her body hunched over the dashboard. He grunted and walked around to the drivers side, then rolled his window down stuck his head out, his normal preparations before he drove off into the night.  
>She had a BIG day ahead of her tomorrow.<p>

_Joker: FINALLY. I'm a little peeved that Sal made an entrance before I did.  
>Me: -Sighs- We already talked about this. -Rubs my temples-<br>Joker: -Claps and laughs obnoxiously seeing my annoyance- Explain it again.  
>Me: -Starts banging my head on my keyboard-<em>

Note: Hope you all are enjoying so far. You may have noticed that I didn't exactly decribe the main characters. That is because I know I like to imagine them when my own when I am reading a story, and I was hoping to allow you guys to do the same.


	4. Chapter 3

**Gotham City, 1992**

Kiamara ran to the door quickly to let Jack in when she heard him knocking. They had been the best of friends ever since that day, and nothing could tear them apart. It had been two years now, she had just turned ten and they knew about things like kissing and the birds and the bees, but that didn't stop them from being near each other. They were all they had.

He had been there for her when her parents got a divorce, and she had been there for him the nights when his dad came home more than a little too intoxicated. He had started hitting him, as well as his mom. She would sneak out of her bedroom window some nights and into his. She would sit with him, the two of them clinging to each other, until the screaming would stop. Other times she would kiss the boo-boos his dad made until he felt better, just like her mommy would.

She opened the door to let him inside, and took his hand then led him to her room not even bothering to close the front door behind them. "What's wrong Anna?" She pulled him to her hamsters cage, then let go of his hand so she could remove the small creature from it's confinement. "There's something wrong with Little Bits!" She cried, and handed him to Jack. "He won't play on his wheel, or the pool we made, and he won't even eat his pellets." She rubbed at her eyes trying to make the tears go away. He raised the hamster to his ear and listened for a moment while Kiamara sat watching him.

Jack stood to his feet, and cradled the hamster close to him, then walked over to her dresser and picked up one of the scarves they used for dress up. He wrapped the hamster in it carefully, then he sat it on the bed, and walked back over to Kiamara as a sob escaped her throat.

He got to his knees and hugged her tight, rubbing her back comfortingly. "It's alright Anna. I'm here." He rocked her in his arms. He always had played a better daddy than she did a mommy since he was a little older than her. She gripped his shirt and tried to stop the ears. "I didn't even get to say bye." She didn't need him to confirm that the hamster was gone, because she had seen her father wear the same grimace when her Gran passed away. "Why did he leave me?" She asked a little more angry than anything.

"He didn't leave Anna, he'll always be here." He moved away from her so he could point to her heart. "He's just in hamster heaven now. Where he can eat all the pellets and play on all the wheels he wants. He won't even have to be in the cage anymore."

Kiamara looked up at him skeptically. "Really? You promise?"

"Of course I do." She smiled a little and hugged him again. "I believe you, but I'll still miss him."

"I know Anna, me too, but we still have each other. Like always." She nodded and he took her hand.

"Let's go give him a proper burial Anna." Anna stood up with him and they picked up Little Bits, hen headed out of the room, but were stopped at the door.

There was a strange man there, a man that Kiamara had never seen before. "The front door..." Jack whispered as he pushed Kiamara behind him protectively.

**Gotham City, Present Day**

Kiamara sat up alert, and looked around in confusion. Every part of her body was sore, and it felt like her hands were bound behind her. There was nothing but darkness around her and she was pretty sure she felt something scurry across her leg.

'Meh...' she thought to herself. 'If it was a amouse she didn't mind, as long as it wasn't any sort of bug.' She shivered at the thought, then she sat up on her knees and screamed as loud as she could.

"HELLO! SAL! Let me out of here!" She shouted, but hissed and fell back on her bottom closing her eyes tightly and turning her head to the side and the room was suddenly flooded with light.

"Hello, hello, hello. Good Morning." That voice definitely did not belong to Sal. She looked up into the face of her kidnapper and gasped.

"Just my luck..." She muttered under her breath. Out of the freezer and into the oven.

"So, your a fan." The clown smirked and licked his lip then kneeled down a few feet away from her.

"I've seen you on the news..." She said and used her legs to push herself farther away from him and closer to the wall.

"What have you seen about me on the news?"

She shrugged. "Oh just robberies, killings, and other things that I was hoping had absolutely nothing to do with me."

He grinned wider although this time it was the devious creepy grin that she had seen on the news photos.

"So you have a sense of humor...I like that." He flicked out his blade and leaned forward to press it to her cheek. Out of reflex she flinched and tried to turn away when she felt the cold metal against her skin, but the action caused the edge of the blade to pierce her. She sucked in a quick breath of air and resisted the urge to curse, while he giggled like a newborn.

"Two for flinching doll." He pressed it to the other side of her face, but this time she knew better.

"Don't worry..." He said examining the the now bleeding cut. "It's only a flesh wound." He cackled again and she glared up at him.

"What do you want with me? Did Sal put you up to this? Cause I can tell you now you can't be trusted..." He laughed again and put his blade away.

"I ask the questions here, but at the moment I don't have anymore. And so I bid you Adeui."

He rose to his feet and headed out of the room.

"Wait! Please don't leave me here! I don't like the dark..."

He in the doorway but didn't turn around. "Is it really the darkness that you fear?...Or is it the silence? Good night."

He shut the metal door behind him and shortly after the lights were shut off again.

"NO!" She screamed. "LET ME GO!" She kicked the air uselessly.

"Please..."


End file.
